About this blog

My name is Bill Hirt and I'm a candidate to be a Representative from the 48th district in the Washington State legislature. My candidacy stems from concern the legislature is not properly overseeing the WSDOT and Sound Transit East Link light rail program. I believe East Link will be a disaster for the entire eastside. ST will spend 5-6 billion on a transportation project that will increase, not decrease cross-lake congestion, violates federal environmental laws, devastates a beautiful part of residential Bellevue, creates havoc in Bellevue's central business district, and does absolutely nothing to alleviate congestion on 1-90 and 405. The only winners with East Link are the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Washington and their labor unions.

This blog is an attempt to get more public awareness of these concerns. Many of the articles are from 3 years of failed efforts to persuade the Bellevue City Council, King County Council, east side legislators, media, and other organizations to stop this debacle. I have no illusions about being elected. My hope is voters from throughout the east side will read of my candidacy and visit this Web site. If they don't find them persuasive I know at least I tried.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

ST3 Parking “Too Little and Too Late”

The November 1st Seattle Times front page
article “Parking finds its place in Sound Transit vote” exemplifies why the
area’s highways will likely remain congested for far into the future.First you have Sound Transit promising ST3 will add 8,560 parking spaces
between 2024 and 2041. The article
also reported, "19,488 cars occupied park-and-ride facilities each weekday in
Snohomish, King and Pierce Counties” with “51 facilities next to express bus or
train stations that were at least 95% full”.

With the existing parking full of those already
using transit, mostly on express bus routes, it’s “unclear” how Sound Transit
intends to provide additional commuters with access to the light rail
stations.Routing the
existing bus routes to the light rail stations rather than into Seattle will provide
“access” for existing commuters.However, it will do very little to reduce roadway congestion.

That requires increasing the number of transit
riders.Even a light rail system
whose capacity is limited by the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) requires
Sound Transit add tens of thousands of parking spaces to increase transit
ridership.Instead they wait
until 2024 to begin spending $698 million on a measly 8560 parking spaces to provide access to a
light rail system they plan to spend $54 billion on light rail extensions over
the next 25 years.

Talk about “too little too late”!They ignore the reality the only way to
reduce congestion is to convince more people to “ride rather than drive”.The only way to do so is spend
existing Prop 1 funds, not on light rail extensions, spend it adding parking
spaces near where people live with express BRT routes to near where they want
to go.They can do so with a
fraction of ST3 money and time dramatically reducing I-5 and I-90 corridor
congestion.

Instead you have the “green and urbanist thinkers” who
claim “the plan (parking) wastes money and land to subsidize car storage”.That it could be used “on more frequent
service, affordable housing, or better walk, bike and bus access to
stations”.Where do they
“think” those who do not care to bike, live within walking distance of stations
or bus routes to stations should “store” their car while they "work".The same question could be asked
of the Sierra club who “supports ST3 but expects to raise questions about the
parking after the election”.

Add to that the Victoria Transportation Policy
Institute consultant’s claim, “Of all the ways to help people get from home to
work, providing a fully subsidized park-and-ride lot is one of the most
inefficient”.He didn’t deign to
propose an alternative.

It’s this “advice” along with Sound Transit plans
for “Prop 1 and Beyond” that makes any transportation improvements
“problematic”.The area has
already endured years of needless congestion and wasted funding because of
Sound Transit’s failure to recognize the benefits of added parking and
BRT.Their parking plan is
just another example of “too little, too late!”

About Me

My last elective position was class president for 25 “class of ’57” seniors in Armstrong, Iowa. I received an MS in engineering at ISU, worked at Boeing for 36 years before retiring in 1998. My wife and I moved into our current home in Bellevue in 1967 where we raised two daughters. Three years of unsuccessful attempts to persuade BCC to block EL are available on “extended session” meeting minutes. Copies of many were sent to all the media outlets, legislators, and others to no avail. I’m hoping this Web site will convince east side residents to query their own legislators.